Blue Cross rates get new hearing: Denish: Insurance increase should be not just reviewed, but reversed [The Santa Fe New Mexican]

May 14--The state will hold another hearing on recent rate increases for Blue Cross Blue Shield customers, the Public Regulation Commission decided Thursday.

Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. asked during a meeting that the recent agreement with the PRC's insurance division to increase rates for some customers by more than 20 percent be vacated and that a new hearing be set. That increase has come under fire in recent days by some as being a backroom deal without public input.

Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who is running for governor, said in a statement Thursday she thinks the rate increase should be reversed.

"I was glad to hear that the PRC is considering a review of this decision. But reviewing is not enough," she said. "This rate hike needs to be reversed. People are struggling to make ends meet. An outrageous increase in their health-insurance premiums is unacceptable."

Meanwhile, a search committee has been formed to find a permanent insurance superintendent at the agency. The group of about 15 people hopes to find a permanent superintendent by July.

Deputy superintendent Tom Rushton is serving as interim superintendent after Mo Chavez earlier this month resigned.

Chavez said he resigned after "sad and derogatory" online comments about him in the wake of the Blue Cross increase.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or [email protected]. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.

To see more of The Santa Fe New Mexican, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.santafenewmexican.com/.

Copyright (c) 2010, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.